Well, repacked the bearings on the front of Yabba Doo... Almost ready for the road trip!!!! Since buying the truck almost a month ago, I have done all of the normal maintenance such as fuel filter, (air filter was brand new) transmission service, Oil and Filter (Amsoil), Belt and tensioner and now have packed the bearings:hyper: Plus installed several pretty lights (I'm a girl and I think they are pretty and very functional of course ) ,speed sensor and a relay for the FSS. I am waiting on my new Fluidampr to get here Friday!!!! Then, Big boy will be all ready for the road trip and beyond:hyper::hyper:

You're pretty handy. I wish the 4x4s could be repacked. Oh well. I dislike the unit bearing assembly.

Way to go. Sounds like you will be ready for the trip.I vote with CSM on the unit bearing assembly from the replacement side. very large pita.

You guys should have the revised design, right? My '99 requires the studs to be pounded out to separate it from the rotor! So, if you need a new stud for any reason in the process... :banghead:

Glad mine is the simple fix:wink: I watched some videos on the unit bearing assembly and was glad I didn't have to do that!!! Did see a video were the took one of those apart repacked it then put it back together

That certainly looks like a pain!!!

I for one as a Tech for the better part of my life love the unit hubs, no mess no hassle. Just changed one out on my wifes VW jetta, just shy of 250K miles on the OEM, I have never seen any serviceable bearings last that long, too many things to go wrong during the process from poor quality grease to not knowing what to look at in bearing fatigue and wear and improper set up procedures.

Even on my 2002 rig I got 150k miles of washboard road use. I love the sealed bearing because less to go wrong but the price of them... Wow!

Well, repacked the bearings on the front of Yabba Doo... Almost ready for the road trip!!!! Since buying the truck almost a month ago, I have done all of the normal maintenance such as fuel filter, (air filter was brand new) transmission service, Oil and Filter (Amsoil), Belt and tensioner and now have packed the bearings:hyper: Plus installed several pretty lights (I'm a girl and I think they are pretty and very functional of course ) ,speed sensor and a relay for the FSS. I am waiting on my new Fluidampr to get here Friday!!!! Then, Big boy will be all ready for the road trip and beyond:hyper::hyper:

If you haven't already and you have the time, you may want to change the power steering fluid and engine coolant before your trip especially in view of the current mileage.

I dont have a problem with the sealed bearing. My biggest problem was replacing the first one and not having a clue of what I was doing wrong when I could not get it off. And the price, like Mike said "Whew". I bought 2 spares form a member here right after that for a great price.

If you haven't already and you have the time, you may want to change the power steering fluid and engine coolant before your trip especially in view of the current mileage.

The engine coolant looks good and clean and if I have time I might change the power steering fluid.. Never thought of changing that before... My other truck has 269,000 now and it probably is fluid from the factory....

The engine coolant looks good and clean and if I have time I might change the power steering fluid.. Never thought of changing that before... My other truck has 269,000 now and it probably is fluid from the factory....

Eeekkk! Change both. Coolant doesn't matter on appearance what matters is the pH level. Fresh coolant will be right close to pH of 7.0. If you want to extend coolants I highly suggest you test the coolant with pH test strips made for coolant. Once coolant degrade it starts eating everything. By the time you see the rusty color its way too late. Coolant was still nice and green in my 96 and it was still factory coolant with 112k miles. Opps... Too late it already started. Power Steering fluid does break down with heat and pressure. So over time the fluid starts to fail then parts start to wear and BOOM. Now the steering box or htdro-booster is feeding everything else debris (metal particles). Since there is no filter it doesn't take very long for the debris to wipe out a system. Any fluid that is discolor including brake fluid it broke down...

Don't forget the blinker fluid and muffler bearings. You're in Florida, so you'll be fine with the summer air in your tires.

Don't forget the blinker fluid and muffler bearings. You're in Florida, so you'll be fine with the summer air in your tires.

I remember the old joke of changing the muffler fluid as well................................little did we know there would actually be a fluid for the exhaust.....jokes on all of us lol....

Eeekkk! Change both. Coolant doesn't matter on appearance what matters is the pH level. Fresh coolant will be right close to pH of 7.0. If you want to extend coolants I highly suggest you test the coolant with pH test strips made for coolant. Once coolant degrade it starts eating everything. By the time you see the rusty color its way too late. Coolant was still nice and green in my 96 and it was still factory coolant with 112k miles. Opps... Too late it already started. Power Steering fluid does break down with heat and pressure. So over time the fluid starts to fail then parts start to wear and BOOM. Now the steering box or htdro-booster is feeding everything else debris (metal particles). Since there is no filter it doesn't take very long for the debris to wipe out a system. Any fluid that is discolor including brake fluid it broke down...

Just to clarify, I was talking about my power steering fluid being factory... I do coolant flushes every couple years

Good to hear...

The hub bearings are very easy to tap with a grease zerk. I actually had both of my units separated a few years ago and they were nearly dry. At the time the truck only had around 70k miles but they were also 12 yrs old. I suspect they don't get very much from the factory and that is probably the main reason they fail especially on low mileage rigs.... Not something that needs greased very often at all but IMO if youve ever got them out it's only an extra hour or so of time to drill and tap them. Then every few years add a couple of pumps and your good to go... I know an old timer around here that delivers campers and boats with a 97, he tapped his wheel bearings early on at a low mileage when the truck was still fairly new. He's got over 400k on original units now and no noticeable play in them yet.... JR now Free

The brake fluid should be changed every 2yr or 30k mi. It absorbs water and over time the boiling point goes down and will give a soft brake peddle. The other problem will be rust in the brake master cylinder and calipers. I use ATE dot 4 fluid with a boiling point of 500 degrees. Cost is about $8/liter